 Microsoft provides examples on its website for the use of Agent. | |
| Original author(s) | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Initial release | September 8, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-09-08)[1] |
| Final release | |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Available in | Multiple languages |
| Website | https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/lwef/microsoft-agentandweb |
Microsoft Agent is a technology developed byMicrosoft which employs animated characters,text-to-speech engines, andspeech recognition software to enhance interaction with computer users. It came pre-installed as part ofWindows 2000 and later versions ofMicrosoft Windows up toWindows Vista. It was not included withWindows 7, and was completely discontinued inWindows 8. Microsoft Agent functionality was exposed as anActiveX control that can be used by web pages.
The theory behind the software came from work on social interfaces byClifford Nass and Byron Reeves atStanford's Center for the Study of Language and Information.[3]
Interactive character technology was first introduced inMicrosoft Bob, which used an early version of Microsoft Agent technology internally referred to as "Microsoft Actor". It was the code used in the initial version of theOffice Assistant inMicrosoft Office 97.[4] Microsoft Agent was subsequently created byTandy Trower in an attempt to offer technology that was more flexible and available to third-party developers to include in their applications and web pages.[5] The software release also included four interactive characters as well as a utility that enables developers to assemble their own characters and interactions.[6][7]
Microsoft Agent replaced the original Microsoft Actor code inOffice 2000, although this use did not include Agent's much-toutedspeech synthesis orrecognition capabilities or any of the four Microsoft Agent sample characters. Instead, the Office team created their own characters, including one named "Clippit" (commonly dubbed "Clippy"). However, Microsoft Bob Actors and Office 97 assistants are incompatible with Office 2000 and later versions, and vice versa.
The initial version of Microsoft Agent was quietly released onMSDN in 1997.[1]
Microsoft Agent characters are stored in files of the .ACS extension or in a single .ACF file for character definitions, and multiple .ACA files (one per animation) for betterWorld Wide Web distribution.[8] Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Bob Actor characters are stored in files of the .ACT extension. Microsoft Agent character definition files are stored in files of the .ACD file extension, and are generated by the Microsoft Agent Character Editor.
The speech engine itself is driven by the MicrosoftSpeech API (SAPI), version 4 and above. Microsoft SAPI provides a control panel for easily installing and switching between various available Text to Speech and Speech to Text engines, as well as voice training and scoring systems to improve the quality and accuracy of both engines.[9]
Microsoft provided four agent characters for free, downloaded from the Microsoft Agent website. These were called Peedy, Merlin, Genie, and Robby.[6] Some characters also shipped with Microsoft Office up to version 2003 as theOffice Assistants and withWindows XP as search assistants. New Microsoft Agent characters could also be created using Microsoft's development tools, including the Agent Character Editor.[10] Agents can be embedded in software withVisual Basic for Applications and in web pages withVBScript, and automated tools for the purpose of simplifying this exist.[11] However, web page agents were only compatible withInternet Explorer, since alternative browsers likeOpera orMozilla Firefox do not supportActiveX.
InWindows Vista, Microsoft Agent usesSpeech API (SAPI) version 5.3 as its primary text-to-speech provider. (In previous versions of Windows, Agent uses SAPI version 4, which is not supported in Windows Vista and later.) Beginning with Vista, multilingual features of Microsoft Agent under a particular language version of the OS are not supported; that is, Agent will function in other languages only under a localized Windows version of the same language.[9]
Microsoft announced in April 2009 that all Microsoft Agent development and support will be discontinued with the release ofWindows 7.[12] Microsoft is no longer offering licenses or distributing the SDK.
However, due to customer feedback, Microsoft provided an installation package of the Microsoft Agent core components for use on Windows 7.[13] The download supported SAPI 5.3 compatible speech engines, and also contained the character “Merlin”, which shipped with Windows Vista.
Microsoft
